Tag: Sean Sherk

— According to The Fight Network, veteran UFC ref “Big” John McCarthy will be making an “important announcement regarding his future” during a teleconference on Friday morning. John, please don’t walk away from the Octagon — now is the time when we need you the most.

— Tim Sylvia will be fighting at UFC 81, against a fighter who hasn’t been named yet. If the match isn’t against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira for the vacant heavyweight title, UFC 81 would be the fourth-consecutive pay-per-view UFC event without a championship fight.

— Matt Serra will be hosting a viewing party for UFC 79 at Madison Square Garden. UFC fan club members can purchase tickets starting tomorrow, UFC.com newsletter subscribers can buy ‘em starting Friday (with the pre-sale password “SERRA”), and the general public can pick up what’s left on Sunday. The price is $30 for a general admission ticket, or $25 if you order before 12/22 — a small price to pay for the opportunity to start chants of “BRIDGE AND TUNNEL!” as soon as Serra shows up to sign autographs. With MMA competitions banned in New York state, watching a jumbotron surrounded by drunk meatheads is as good as it gets!

…or fully guilty of taking half-steroids, whichever way you want to look at it. Bottom line is, the California State Athletic Commission just reduced his one-year suspension for testing positive for Nandrolone to six months. Not exactly sure what the CSAC’s reasoning behind this one is — maybe they figured that being on a little bit of ‘roids isn’t that big of a deal? Anyway, Sherk is basically getting time served; he’ll be eligible to fight again in January. If the term of his suspension goes until exactly six months from his last fight, he’ll be all-clear on 1/7, which is actually before B.J. Penn and Joe Stevenson fight for the interim title at UFC 80. So, a Sherk/Penn unification bout is still a possibility, which is wonderful because they really seem to hate each other.

By the way, Hermes Franca — Sean Sherk’s opponent at UFC 73 who also tested positive for steroids after the match — had his one-year sentence upheld at his hearing in August. Not to get all political, but has the California justice system ever given a Brazilian a fair shake?

UPDATE (From The Stephen Quadros Show via Five Ounces of Pain):
Sean Sherk isn’t letting this one slide. He still claims he is 100% innocent, and plans to continue to fight the suspension, no matter how much money or time it takes. According to his own research*, urinalysis is the worst way to test for Nandrolone. His suspension ends on January 5th, and he’s still salty about this whole “interim title” thing.

* The mental image of a labcoat-and-safety-goggles-clad Sean Sherk urinating into beakers and marking things on a clipboard is making me giggle right now.

— Effective immediately, the California State Athletic Commission will include MDMA (Ecstasy) and Oxycodone in its testing for drugs of abuse. Which is completely ridiculous, if you ask me. If anything, ecstasy is a drug of love and caring.

— Speaking of controlled substances, Sean Sherk’s steroid appeal hearing is scheduled for tomorrow. If it’s postponed again, Sherk will surely fly into a ‘roid rage that won’t end until all the tables in his house are broken in half and all the walls have holes punched in them. I mean, allegedly.

Steroid accusations aside, Sean Sherk has had one of the most dominant careers in MMA. In 34 professional fights, he’s only lost twice, against superstars Matt Hughes and Georges St. Pierre. This fight from UFC 56 in November 2005 is Sherk’s only loss by stoppage, and his second-to-last appearance as a welterweight. As for St. Pierre, in two more matches he would be the UFC’s welterweight champion…

The UFC held a media conference call yesterday to pump up UFC 78, and since I wasn’t around to liveblog it — I know, disappointing, right? — you’ll have to settle for this recap. Dana White, Michael Bisping, Rashad Evans, and Houston Alexander were in attendance, and the audio from the call can be heard here.

Among the revelations…

— Dana White has officially offered Randy Couture a title defense against Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira. The match would fulfill the last fight on Couture’s UFC contract; he isn’t technically in violation of that contract unless he turns the fight down. Couture texted White on Sunday and they are planning to discuss it next week. Nogueira is a former PRIDE heavyweight champion who won his first UFC fight in July via unanimous decision against Heath Herring. Never, ever do a Google Image Search for “Nogueira.”

Though it has a long, proud history, the nationality + noun combination is always a risky move when crafting a nickname. If it’s “The Polish ____” it can end up sounding like the setup to a joke. (i.e., “You hear the one about the Polish Hammer? They use it to pound fingernails.” Or something like that, but much funnier.) With any other nationality, like “The Dutch ____,” it can end up sounding like a deviant sex act. Marcus “The Irish Hand Grenade” Davis gets a pass because hand grenades are badass.

Remember how we told you that Sean Sherk’s appeal hearing for his steroid case was postponed until November 13th? Well, it’s been postponed again, this time until December 4th. Man, you thought Dana White was pissed before…

Sherk’s lawyer in the case is Howard Jones, who has advised many other high-profile athletes in doping cases, including sprinters Marion Jones and Tim Montgomery, and Tour de France winner Floyd Landis. Basically, what Johnnie Cochran is to double-murder, Howard Jones is to steroids — sure, it looks a little suspicious when you hire him, but as Chris Rock once said, “I’d rather look guilty at the mall.”

Yahoo! Sports has reported that Sean “Muscle Shark” Sherk — who tested positive for an anabolic steroid in July after his title defense against Hermes Franca at UFC 73 — will remain the UFC’s lightweight champion. Dana White had originally planned to strip Sherk of his title, but changed his mind due to his frustration with the California Athletic Commission. Sherk has denied taking steroids, and appealed his one-year suspension, but had his hearing postponed until November 13 when members of the CAC realized they had not received a 17-page brief that Sherk’s attorney had submitted on his behalf. “The way this whole thing has been handled has been a mess,” White said.

UFC lightweights BJ Penn and Joe Stevenson will fight for an interim title at UFC 80, with the winner potentially facing Sherk after the case is settled. We at CagePotato wish Sean the best in his fight against the California Bureau of Whatever; just because a guy looks like he’s on every steroid under the sun, doesn’t necessarily mean he is. Let’s give the man a fair shake, people.